Raila mocks Jubilee over primaries as Uhuru apologises to Meru supporters

Opposition leaders Raila Odinga (right) and Moses Wetang'ula in Meru on Saturday. [Peter Muthomi, Standard]

National Super Alliance (NASA) leaders have mocked Jubilee Party over its shambolic Friday nominations.

Speaking in Meru, Raila Odinga and Moses Wetang'ula said the NASA affiliate parties have done well in their exercise compared to Jubilee Party.

“They had branded our primaries a fiasco but theirs is something beyond description such as the fart of a donkey,” Raila said.

He said he hoped the scandal of the Jubilee nominations would teach the party a lesson.

“After Raphael Tuju’s bravado on the eve of the primaries, everyone was shocked how it turned out on Friday,” he said.

The Orange Development Movement (ODM) leader said Jubilee had not experienced the strain of elections because the main affiliate parties -The National Alliance (TNA) and the United Republican Party (URP) - had just been formed in 2013.

Asked whether the primaries should be outsourced to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the Opposition leader said it was up to Jubilee to sort out its mess.

Speaking separately to crowds in Meru town, President Uhuru Kenyatta apologised for the shambolic Jubilee Party nominations and said he was committed to ensuring a fresh one is done successfully.

President Kenyatta who was addressing a crowd at Gitimbine estate said he was sorry for the exercise that led to cancellation of the primaries in all parts of Meru.

Mr Kenyatta said he will ensure the fresh nomination is done to ensure all aspirants accept the results.

“I want to say sorry. We will rectify it to ensure residents exercise their freedom to elect leaders in a free and fair nomination,” said Mr Kenyatta, who was wildly cheered when he went in and out of the late Finance Minister’s final resting place at his residence.

“We are planning a free and fair election, and since time is not on our side, I will return to commission road and electricity projects,” the Head of State added.